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Israeli Think Tank Leader Addresses Ethics in Government

January 23, 2009

Arye Carmon, president of the Jerusalem-based think tank Israel Democracy Institute (IDI), will present a lecture and exhibition of his photographs at Duke University’s Terry Sanford Institute of Public Policy on Monday, Jan. 26.

“A Struggling Democracy Confronts Political and Governmental Ethics: The Case of Israel” begins at 4:30 p.m. in the Rhodes Conference Room. The event, which is free and open to the public, will include a reception and exhibit opening immediately following the lecture in the Sanford Building lobby.

The Israel Democracy Institute, created in 1991, consists of some of Israel’s brightest intellectuals. IDI conducts research, promotes policy debates and makes research-based suggestions for reform.

The institute list of successes includes the Knesset’s adoption of IDI’s Legislative Assistants Program, which increased capacity for policy research within the legislature. In the late 1990s, IDI led a successful battle to repeal the two-ballot electoral system, which fragmented the major parties in Israel. More recently, the IDI submitted a comprehensive blueprint for reform of the budgetary process in Israel, and has provided “first-100-day” programs to incoming Israeli governments.

Photography has played a major role in Carmon’s life since he took it up 40 years ago, and his work features various aspects of human life, both within Israel and abroad. His two passions -- public policy and photography -- will come together Jan. 26 at the Sanford Institute, located on Duke’s West Campus.

The lecture and exhibition, titled “Connecting Disparate Worlds,” are principally sponsored by the Sanford Institute and the Duke Center for Documentary Studies. Other sponsors are the Carolina Center for Jewish Studies, UNC-Chapel Hill, and the following Duke programs: Samuel and Ronnie Heyman Center for Ethics, Public Policy, and the Professions; the Department of Political Science; the Kenan Institute for Ethics; the Center for Jewish Studies; and the Freeman Center for Jewish Life.